self disclosure

• Self-disclosure is revealing personal information about yourself. Romantic partners reveal more about their true self as their relationship develops. Self- disclosure can strengthen a bond in a romantic relationship when used appropriately.

  When we meet a new partner, self disclosure plays a vital role in the relationship. We have to be careful about what information is self-disclosed (at least in the beginning). If we use self-disclose wisely and effectively, it can help the relationship run smoothly and aids attraction.
• Reciprocal exchange: 

  Reis and Shaver; increases feelings of intimacy and deepens the relationship. One partner reveals some information about themselves to the person they trust, the other partner has to reveal sensitive information too for the relationship to go further.
• Reciprocal disclosure:

  Reis and shaver suggests reciprocal disclosure is imperative for successful relationships.it increases feelings of intimacy and deepens the relationship.
• Self-disclosure has two elements:

  Breadth: disclose a lot about ourselves at the start of the relationship, but it is often superficial, low risk information that we would be willing to reveal to anyone (friends, colleagues, acquantances). Many topics are Off limit and you don't want to reveal too much too soon.

  Depth: over time, disclosure becomes deeper. Remove more and more layers to reveal our true selves covering lots of different topics and reveal our inner- self. Intimate, high risk information, painful memories, powerful secrets, strongly held beliefs.
• A strength of self-disclosure theory is that there is supporting evidence. Sprecher and Hendrick studied heterosexual dating couples and found strong positive correlations between different measures of satisfaction and self disclosure. Males and females who had reciprocal self-disclosure were more satisfied and committed to their relationship. This suggests the theory is plausible and that self-disclosure does (as predicted by the theory ) lead to a more satisfying relationship.
• A weakness is that much of the supporting research is correlational. A major problem with correlational studies is that they do not establish cause and effect. This suggests it may be invalid to conclude that self disclosure will lead to attraction.
• Weakness of self-disclosure theory is linked to relationship breakdown. According to self-disclosure, the breakdown of a relationship is related to a reduction in self-disclosure, however this is not always the case. Ducks model of relationship breakdown recognises that couples often discuss their relationship and in intimate detail when trying to save it, but this is not always sufficient. This suggests that increased self-disclosure may not always lead to positive developments in relationships.